Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112001 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
“Yeah. For real.”
There was an awkward pause. And then she dropped her hands to her hips and rubbed her palms on her leathers as if they were damp.
“I want you to know something.” Her voice was low in volume, strong in tone. “It’s a two-way street, between you and me. If you need anything, you gotta let me know.”
Blade’s heart skipped a beat and he made a show of looking at the natural spring in the rear of the cave. The bedding platform. The storage trunks and the table with the candle on it.
“I rather thought you’d prefer to never see me again.”
“No,” Xhex said. “That’s not what I’d prefer.”
“Well.” He cleared his throat. “Isn’t that quite lovely. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going.”
Bending at the waist, he bowed to her, and then he walked forward. As he passed by her position, there by the passageway’s entry, he thought perhaps she would reach out to him. She did not. And thus he processed, alone, through the narrow confines of the way to the great outdoors.
Emerging, he took a deep breath and felt a burn in his stomach. But it was not bad. Indeed, his healing had progressed quite the thing, and in another week, he would have no residual effects whatsoever.
Physically, that was.
With one last glance around, he expected to see the silver wolf off to the side, looking satisfied with herself in all that she had engineered. Then he closed his eyes and—
“Blade—wait!”
As he turned, Xhex raced out of the cave’s entrance, and the next thing he knew, she was hugging him hard. He did not hesitate to return the embrace.
“Take care of yourself,” she said roughly.
“You, too, sister mine.” He squeezed his eyes closed. “You… too.”
* * *
Lydia arrived up on the mountain’s summit wearing white winter-weight hiking pants, a white turtleneck, and a white parka. Even her boots, which were snow-rated and waterproof, were white. Socks and long underwear, too.
She’d driven Candy’s car—which had previously been her own—up the back trail, and parked it a bit away from the magnificent clearing that provided the view of the valley. As she got out, the cold nipped at her, and she welcomed the burn in her cheeks, the way her eyes watered, the hum in her sinuses.
It just felt good to be alive. And she was excited for what was going to happen soon.
The guests would be arriving in just half an hour—Daniel, too.
She had come early.
As Lydia walked forward, she heard rustling in the undergrowth, and then the howling started. The sound made her heart sing further, and she stopped, let her head fall back, closed her eyes… and thought of Eastwind.
She had moved into his house with Daniel.
And she was taking over from him. Whatever that meant.
Well, so far, it meant that she and Cathy were reopening the Wolf Study Project. With that hotel starting to do business across the valley, and the ever-present threats from people being on the mountain, her beloved wolves needed protecting now more than ever—and she was just the person to do it.
As Eastwind had had his sheriff’s badge, so she had the WSP, a perfect camouflage for her sacred duty to the mountain and the lair of the wolven.
Maybe she’d stay forty years like he did. Maybe she’d find someone to take over earlier than that. But either way, for however long she was here, she had a job.
And hey, so did Candy. The receptionist had been thrilled to be asked to come back to work.
It was too bad that Gus and Cathy had to move down to Houston, but they didn’t have much choice. The lab was all ruined, and the mansion had painful memories of so many medical staff and researchers dying in the raid. Somehow, the deaths had all been covered. Lydia hadn’t asked any questions. That part of the human world wasn’t her business, anyway.
The important thing was that they had the venom. If Vita-12b had shown some potential, it was nothing compared to what that scorpion had given the world.
And she had her Daniel back—
It was just as Lydia arrived at the cave’s hidden entry that her nose caught a scent, and she followed it deeper into the earth. As she stepped out into the living space, she wasn’t surprised at the female who was sitting at the little table.
Xhex smiled. “Hey, it’s the bride-to-be.”
“Hi.” She looked around. Even though there was nowhere anyone Blade’s size could tuck behind. “Has he…”
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
A sting of pain went through her chest. “I wanted… to thank him.”
Standing up, Xhex tugged her leather jacket down and smoothed her hands over her short hair. “And he wanted you to know that he’s happy for you both, and he’s glad Daniel’s okay. He wishes you all the very best things in life.”